Renters and foreclosure

But if your landlord quits paying the bank, goes into foreclosure and YOU get booted out of your nest, that’s really uncool.

RealtyTrac, an online national foreclosure tracking service, today launched a service for renters. RealtyTrace Renter Alerts sends tenants an email alert when the property they’re renting defaults or is on the way to the foreclosure auction.

“More than 2.3 million U.S. households received a foreclosure notice in 2008 – an 81 percent increase over the previous year – and foreclosure activity is expected to rise again in 2009,” the RealtyTrac press release says. “With over 30 percent of these homes not owned by the occupant, hundreds of thousands of renters are at risk of being evicted, even though many have never missed a rent payment.”

The service costs $24.95 a year.

The renter-foreclosure issue has been a problem nationally. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently new programs that let renters continue to occupy the home after foreclosure.